It is a full day tour today – starting out at 7:30, we barely have time for breakfast – well, not really, we have plenty of time, and we meet Hung in the lobby right on schedule. The drive to Hue is about 3 hours each way, so we are handed snack bags on the way out, complete with fruit, pastries and water for our long drive north to the once capital of the Nguyen dynasty, and the location of the epic Vietnam war battle that essential signaled the end of the American war here.
Out on the road, with Hung, and a new driver, we head back through Da Nang on our way up the coast to Hue. Once again, Hung quizzes us on what he tells us, and figure out he likes us because we are interested in the history of the country, not just shopping and massages! He makes a few comments along the way that leads us to believe he “traded” for us because he talk about the important things in his country, not just be a glorified concierge delivering his charges to shopping malls and spas. As we drive, Hung gives us the nickel tour of Da Nang, pointing out the American helicopter fields used during the war, and then moving on to explain to us the sacred and lucky numbers for Vietnamese: 5 is a sacred number (for the 5 elements: fire, water, wood, metal and earth), 7 is a lucky number, as well as 9 which is the 5 elements plus 4. Why? I don’t remember, but there is a definite reason for each number’s relevance.
We stop at a marble factory outside the Marble mountain, which is interesting for the massive marble Buddha carvings and other little statues. We aren’t really interested in buying anything, and the carvers aren’t here today, so we don’t get a demonstration – but that’s ok, Hung says – they don’t mind if we don’t buy anything. Good, because, we aren’t! But we do get a great view of the marble mountain with it’s 2 temples/pagodas perched on the side of the cliffs. Hung tells us there are 5 mountains surrounding Da Nang, all symbolizing the elements: metal, fire, wood, metal and earth. The route doesn’t take us to any good view points of the mountains, just through the over developed area around the beaches of Da Nang. But we do get to cross the Dragon bridge, which has been realistically designed to look like a dragon, then we drive along the bay (that is surprisingly undeveloped – there must be something wrong over here) and up into the mountainous topography that leads us to Hue.
There are 2 ways to get to Hue, the coastal road, which is more scenic, and the tunnel which was just complete a few years ago and cuts off hours of travel up and down the coast. We are taking eh scenic route on the way to Hue so we can see the coast and the beautiful beaches and bays, eschewing the tunnel until our return at the end of the day. We stop at a scenic point overlooking a lovely white beach and the bay where Hung plays photographer once again, placing us in the best position for the prettiest picture.
Our next stop is atop the crest of the mountain ridge, Doung Cuu Nan, or Hai Phon (peak where you can see the clouds) where there is an amazing overlook (thus the name Hai Phon) down into Da Nang bay and the remains of bunkers set into the hillside for protection. After our brief stop, we continue down the mountain to the sweet little enclave of Lang Co (pelican beach) so named because pelicans would come here to hunt and eat the fish. Now, it is fisherman who ply the shallow waters searching for fish, and more often clams. We stop at a lovely little restaurant with 2nd floor seating overlooking the little bay where we can watch the fisherman dig for clams and against a backdrop of lush green mountains rising up from the bay. It is a lovely rest stop for the middle of our trip, and we luxuriate in the scenery on the balcony while sipping excellent coffee and taking pictures of fishermen and the incredible panoramic view of the lake (brackish bay) cradled at the bottom of the mountain ridges.
Back in the car, we make our way further inland, heading north toward Hue. With an hour and a half more to go, we spend the time alternately looking out the window at the rice paddies and coastal sites flashing past us, and listening to Hung explain everything from history to the naming of different cities after dragons. For instance, Ha long (as in Halong bay) is landing dragon, Za long is the royal dragon and Ca long is a flying dragon.
Finally, we reach the city of Hue, of which we have been fascinated for ages, simply because of the Tet offensive battle and the way this particular battle shaped the Vietnam war. We’ve read a ton of material, including Hue 1968: The turning point of the Vietnam War – which gave us a wartime perspective on the city. But Hung gives us so much more. While we are focusing solely on the foibles of the US offensive – this city has so much more history to offer, that we are slightly embarrassed to be focusing so much on the war influence. Not that it wasn't drastic, the city was all but destroyed, but Hung doesn't dwell on it. Instead he focuses on the cultural and historical influence of the Citadel and the Imperial city, giving us so much more history and meaningful information than simply the the sight of the penultimate American war battle.
Approaching the city, Hung explains that this was the Imperial capital city of Vietnam for about 150 years, until 1945 and the August Revolution, when Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam’s independence, moving the capital to Hanoi, and setting the stage for the epic battle that was to come. In the meantime, the Imperial city of Hue still stood, in all it’s glory, within the Citadel walls along the banks of the Perfume River. The city itself is built within a series of walls, the first, most outer walls, are the Citadel moat walls with the impressive black fortress guarding the royal entrance. Inside the Citadel, the second set of walls surrounds the Imperial city, and then the final set of walls enclose the Forbidden city where only the royals were allowed to enter. We stand outside the Imperial wall Meridien gate, while listening as Hung explains the 3 separate doorways, the one on the left (now the International visitor entrance) was for the public, the one on the left for servants and the much larger middle door with locked golden gates was for the Royal family, in particular the Emperor, who would ride into the city on his Elephant (and thus the larger size of the door/gate). We also get a lesson on the Vietnam flag, as we gaze at the fortress behind us, its flags hung high – the colors of the flags are all symbolic: Yellow is for the skin, Red for blood and a star with 5 points for the castes of Vietnam. Never knew that before. Great tour guide information.
Hung walks us through the beautiful red and gold Meridien gates, into a large courtyard with flowers and two lakes (cement ponds really) filled with Koi. We enter the Than Hoa Palace to walk into the interior of the Imperial city, ending up on a slightly barren courtyard (where a stage is being set up for some sort of event), lined with buildings that were ostensibly used for royal duties, but are now restroom facilities and souvenir shops. Facing the back of the courtyard is an old blackened wall, adorned with with dragons and carvings, and a little open gate area, through which we walk into the Forbidden City. Here, we find ourselves in the middle of lush green lawns, crisscrossed by paths that lead to an assortment of buildings here. There are red lacquer porticos adorned with all sorts of beautiful artwork, contrasted by blackened stone walls surrounding the perimeters. A gorgeous “reading pavilion” (i.e., library) still exists with shelves upon shelves of books, and beautifully upholstered chairs adorned win the royal red and gold colors. There is also a lake and pagoda in the middle of green gardens, where the royal ladies once held court. All in all it is a beautiful enclave – and one can only imagine how it must have looked years ago, before all the “aggression.”
Of course Hung is filling our heads with history and facts that we will never remember – but he is so passionate for his work, and honestly, we find it fascinating while he expounds. If only I could record all his great oratories to remember later. But, that is not to be, as we are just trying to listen and be in the moment, instead of stressing about the details.
Passing through the Forbidden city, we exit at the back end of the fortress walls, and head out into the “regular” city for lunch. Our driver picks us up moments after we emerge, and takes us over to the Y Thao Garden, our luncheon location. We are seated in a lovely little room with other tour participants (definitely not a local joint!), but the menu looks good, and the food is plentiful. We have a set menu of spring rolls (“decorated on the formed peacock” – and they do come out skewered to the back of a peacock made out of a pineapple and carrot – quite inventive), vegetable soup, Hue specialty pancake (a huge fried rice cake stuffed with vegetables and meat – a little too much even for me), mixed fig salad (it tasted more like chicken, but had a great peanut topping and a very good taste – who knows what it really was), fried fish with lemongrass (teeny patty of ok tasting fish), mixed steamed lotus rice (it’s rice) and dessert of fruit and green bean cake formed fruit.
Everything was extremely good, although the pancake was a bit much. But the dessert got us. The fruit was fine, what’s not to like about fruit? But the bean cake come out as a what appeared to be a plastic berry attached to wire in Styrofoam. What part of that can you eat? (And, damn you Goggle for not letting us post a picture, because you can’t even visualize this without a photo!) We poked and prodded every thing in the little vase, before finally deciding it was all inedible and just a pretty table setting. Until the waitress came by and told us we could eat the “fruit” or “berries” attached to the Styrofoam and wire “stems.” Yeah right! Ed was brave enough to take a bite, but it tastes like wall paper paste formed into a berry – maybe a Vietnamese delicacy, but we’re not buying it. Hey, the rest of the meal was great – let’s not ruin it with a pasty bean-berry dessert.
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